| Wii Excitement |
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| Blog | |
| Written by Valerie Jones-Harvey | |
| Tuesday, 03 June 2008 | |
 So Nintendo has done it again. They released the Wii Fit a couple of weeks ago and people snatched them up like hot cakes (yes, that’s a technical term). People were actually lined up outside stores before opening time just to buy one. By the way, the people lining up were moms and dads, not your sterotypical idea of gamers. So how has Nintendo crossed the chasm to the “casual gamer” and created such high demand for a video game system?
As my husband annoyingly told me on the release date, “Nintendo has peaked everyone’s interest and now to increase demand, they are holding back supply”. And my reply was, “They don’t need to increase demand, I want a Wii Fit now! Isn’t it enough that I demand a Wii Fit.” Obviously I wasn’t interested in logical reasons behind why I didn’t have a Wii Fit, I just knew that I wanted one - luckily I did find one a couple of days later. So how are they really doing it? Sure, they have their usual marketing blitz with the fun commercials, but even moreso I think this seems to be a word of mouth campaign. How many people have heard that the Wii is a lot of fun from someone they would not consider to be into video games? Playstation and Xbox are also fun, but they aren’t flying off the shelves (at least not anymore). The Wii is perceive as more of a social gaming system, and it's different because you have to get off the couch and get involved (maybe even sweat some - try boxing on Wii Sports). Nintendo seems to have struck a chord with people who haven’t played video games since they were kids - they play it once at a friend’s house during a party and they are hooked; the next day they excitedly tell their co-workers, “I have to get a Wii! It was so much fun.” That is the best advertising you can get, plus it’s free. So tell me, is anyone talking about your brand with that type of enthusiasm? Comments (0)
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